No more 'enemy combatants' at Guantanamo Bay

[Surgeon]

Reporting from Washington -- There will no longer will be "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Obama administration said Friday. Moreover, the new president no longer claims that his title as commander in chief allows him to order people deemed to be dangerous captured and held without trial.

Having abandoned a favored Bush administration term in the war on terrorism, however, the new administration has claimed roughly the same power to hold Guantanamo's detainees indefinitely -- even those who never held a gun or went near a battlefield.

...

In the 12-page legal memo sent to a judge Friday, the administration said it had tweaked the government's definition of who can be held without charges. The new definition says those who "substantially supported" Al Qaeda or the Taliban can be held, regardless of where they were captured. The prior definition referred to those who gave "support" to Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

President Obama's lawyers said Congress gave him the authority he needed when it authorized the use of military force one week after the Sept. 11 attacks. It said the president can use the military against "nations, organizations or persons" who planned or aided the terrorist attacks.

article

Guess the water(boarding) party will continue?

[Erik]

So much for change and restoring America's standing in the world.

Now, why am I not surprised?

[Boer]

I found this part of the article (left out of your summary) interesting:

Reactions to the announcement differed sharply. Military Families United saw the change as a "drastic dismantling of the war on terror." The American Civil Liberties Union called it "deeply troubling" because it retained an "overly broad interpretation" of who can be held as a war prisoner.

So one group is complaining about this preventing the US from adequately fighting terrorists, and another is upset that it gives the US more (illegal?) power. I guess that's just typical these days. Nothing like getting fire from both flanks, so to speak.

I wonder how many new court cases will happen over this new decision.

[Martin N]

The enemy combatant is most important in an article of the patriot act, where it specifies say if there was a riot, or a revolution, the government terms these people, homegrown terrorists, and therefore enemy combatants, i was hopeful that he removed this as its a disgrace, but clearly he hasnt.

Boer you should of learnt by now, the united states isnt fighting terrorists, were "ridding iraq of wmds", Spare the sarcasm, the original 19 hijackers were completeley usa trained in our military bases, complete scapegoats right from the beggining, in theory there is no war on terror because there is no enemy to fight, if we was going by the nationalitys of our...there hijackers we would of attacked saudi and pakistan long ago, but why use common sense when you can use the good old fashioned shell and bullet ?

[danzig]

Gee to end Iraq and Afganistan war all Obama has to do is rename them! Hell maybe he can end the recession that way too!

[Modern Crusader]

The enemy combatant is most important in an article of the patriot act, where it specifies say if there was a riot, or a revolution, the government terms these people, homegrown terrorists, and therefore enemy combatants, i was hopeful that he removed this as its a disgrace, but clearly he hasnt.

Boer you should of learnt by now, the united states isnt fighting terrorists, were "ridding iraq of wmds", Spare the sarcasm, the original 19 hijackers were completeley usa trained in our military bases, complete scapegoats right from the beggining, in theory there is no war on terror because there is no enemy to fight, if we was going by the nationalitys of our...there hijackers we would of attacked saudi and pakistan long ago, but why use common sense when you can use the good old fashioned shell and bullet ?

[Martin N]

You know every thread that picture gets brought up, nearly getting old as the cat and the facepalm

[bushbush]

not very surprising. I doubt Obama wanted to risk his political life by giving these prisoners regular treatment and releasing a bunch of them.

[Surgeon]

Frankly I guess we all knew Obama would do something like this, but uh... subtlety man? Why not just send the prisoners to some ill-known Iraqi-run prison instead? They know how to torture, oh yes!

[Viking Prince]

Obama says US has not done a good job deciding who should be ...

President Barack Obama says the U.S. hasn't done a good job sorting out who should be released from the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Obama says in a broadcast interview that some of the people released from the facility in Cuba have rejoined terrorist groups. He also says U.S. officials have not always been effective in determining which prisoners will be a danger once they are let go.

But he says the Bush administration's policy of holding detainees for years on end with no trials is "unsustainable,' and has only fueled anti-American sentiments.

In a taped interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," he also disputes former Vice President Dick Cheney's claim that plans to close Guantanamo will make America less safe.

My guess is a Gitmo II if this facility is ever closed. More probably, Pres. Obama will use a commission to study and then implement changes and keep the game going forward.